1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an immersive interface interactive multimedia software method and apparatus utilizing a pseudo-physical metaphor and robust user feedback, which facilitates quick and intuitive user interaction, control, and activity between computers on a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Networks are generally defined as two or more individual computers connected together by some computer hardware (cables, for example) or by wireless means, to facilitate information sharing, processing power sharing, and communication. The computers share information between them using xe2x80x9crequestsxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cservicesxe2x80x9d; one computer typically xe2x80x9crequestsxe2x80x9d information, while another computer on the network xe2x80x9cservicesxe2x80x9d the request. Sometimes the xe2x80x9crequestingxe2x80x9d computer is referred to as a xe2x80x9cclientxe2x80x9d, while the xe2x80x9cservicingxe2x80x9d computer is referred to as a xe2x80x9cserverxe2x80x9d, but almost all computers xe2x80x9crequestxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cservicexe2x80x9d requests from other computers, whether defined as a client, a server, or neither. With respect to the Internet and the World Wide Web, a xe2x80x9cservicingxe2x80x9d computer is sometimes called a xe2x80x9cWeb Sitexe2x80x9d.
The Internet and World Wide Web are examples of public networks formed by millions of computers. Computers on these networks routinely xe2x80x9crequestxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cservicexe2x80x9d other computers millions of times each second. A vast majority of the computers on these public networks are Personal Computers (PCs). People routinely xe2x80x9crequestxe2x80x9d information about certain web sites, and another computer on the network, the web site computer, xe2x80x9cservicesxe2x80x9d the request by providing the requested information.
The PC is often a significant element, particularly as clients, in most networks. The PC is rapidly evolving and changing, both in hardware and in software. There is a standard in software interfaces today that has roots in the Microsoft Windows productsxe2x80x94typical features of these interfaces are scrolling windows, icons, resizable windows, radio buttons, hypertext, and menu bars. The hardware associated with most PCs includes a pointing device, such as a mouse, pen, touch-screen, stylus, trackball, etc.
The standard software interface on the PC (and subsequently, the Internet, or World Wide Web) contains numerous tools or controls for navigating and accessing information. Buttons, text, hypertext links, images and/or icons typically are combined together to provide the user with a manner to interact with the requesting and servicing computers to provide the necessary data, navigation, and/or services the user requires. Simply put, a standard interface can possess xe2x80x9ccontrolsxe2x80x9d, tools for manipulating the interface, and xe2x80x9cdisplayxe2x80x9d the information that is displayed (which can be text or data). Most controls are utilized using either keyboard input or pointing device (mouse, trackball, touchscreen, tablet, etc) input.
There are a number of difficulties in using the standard software interfaces. Due to the huge number of computer sites, typically new users must learn or memorize the symbology of the buttons/icons/controls, and what each represents. There is a great diversity of uses of the controls, with every site utilizing the controls differently. Users often need some background in the Microsoft Windows use of windows such as the minimize, maximize, and close features. The large amounts of data on Web sites are indexed or organized differently, and time must be spent learning how the information is organized before the user can access what is needed. Many times the user must spend a considerable amount of time reading the site, comprehending the information, and learning the navigation of the sitexe2x80x94many times through trial and error. The narrow bandwidth of the Internet today means long delays waiting for images and pictures, and misused controls mean delays in achieving the desired results. Most sites today totally rely upon the use of text, which forces users to read and interpret in order to access the information they desire. Finally, users are required to know when to click, when to double click, and where to click or double click, which is not always apparent. The use of the keyboard and pointing device for controls is also highly varied across sites, further complicating the task.
In the aggregate, the use of a standard PC interface over the network to gather information from a site (or servicing computer on the network) can be challenging due to complexity in controls, unapparent organization of vast amounts of information, and the dependency upon users with solid cognitive skills in reading and comprehending to evaluate and then navigate to the information that they require. Speed of access is also an issue, as finding the desired information on a vast network like the Internet is often a challenging and time consuming task.
At this point in time, it is technologically challenging and difficult to provide a highly interactive, heavily multimedia navigation interface such as the present embodiment on the Internet/World Wide Web.
For example, one aspect of the invention, streaming video, is very hard to accomplish at present and only few tools are currently available to support this feature. Browsers and plug-ins are typically complicated, poorly documented, and produce variable results across multiple browser versions and operating systems. A heavy investment in hardware, and internet connections are required. Also, the nature of hyper-text markup language, e.g., .html, on the Internet/World Wide Web, are text focused and present difficulties in multimedia. Significantly, the use of proprietary software and costs of licensing can be prohibitive to be capable to run a multimedia-intensive navigation interface.
Through-put issues are a major concern and challenge in creating a high interactivity, multimedia-heavy interface on the Internet/World Wide Web. For example, the Internet/World Wide Web does not readily support true color graphics because true color pictures are very large files, that take a lot of time to download. Audio is challenging to make work on the Internet/World Wide Web, and requires a sound card. Handling video is also difficult to do, and on-demand animations and/or videos are very hard to accomplish on the Internet/World Wide Web. Even still further, compression techniques are typically rather complicated for pictures, audio and video. Compression achieves benefits in throughput, but unfortunately requires time to decompress data. Plug-ins also require download time. Ultimately, the throughput issue is a serious factor and is very difficult to address. The low throughput and long delays make the creation of a truly multimedia navigation interface very undesirable on the present Internet/World Wide Web.
Additionally, the multiplicity of computer configurations that are currently available (hardware, operating system, and browser), provide challenges to creating a truly multimedia navigation interface. Sites must profile their users, and many times must be prepared to disallow large numbers of users who will not be able to access the site due to having unsupported hardware, browser, and/or operating system.
A navigation interface must be able to support a large number of user accesses at the same time, and due to through-put issues on the Internet/World Wide Web, providing a truly multimedia navigation interface is a challenge, in that the slowness in accessing such a navigation interface due to the through-put problems would cause many users to give up and go elsewherexe2x80x94a result that many sites find undesirable at this time.
Finally, security issues and difficulty in protecting proprietary information, media, and data on the Internet/World Wide Web make multimedia navigation interfaces not very desirable. In that regard, the vast majority of web sites today are mostly plain text with simplistic graphics and organizations. This simplistic organization decreases the need and desire for having a more sophisticated (e.g., multimedia) and technologically challenging web site.
The present invention provides an xe2x80x9cImmersive Interfacexe2x80x9d that allows a user to utilize an interface where the controls and data organization of the interface are constructed using a pseudo-physical graphical metaphor with multimedia feedback, making controls and their usage more intuitive and more easily apparent, enabling faster understanding of interface control, faster access, reduced mistakes, and easier, multimedia guided interaction with the computer. The interface is immersive in the sense that the interface projects a physical environment that the user finds themselves immersed in, so as to make the navigation and control processes intuitive and relatively easy to perform, irrespective as to the level of computer knowledge of the user.
The immersive interface may be provided by way of a method for providing an interface to a user for at least one page of information. The method includes displaying the page to the user, the page including a plurality of separate interactive elements positioned at different locations on the page to provide a frame of reference to the user. The method also includes, as the user moves a pointer device to various positions on the page, providing feedback to the user that informs the user as to information related to one of the plurality of separate interactive elements that the user is currently positioning the pointer device on. The feedback is at least two of text feedback, visual imagery feedback, and audio feedback.
The immersive interface may also be provided by way of a method for providing an interface to a user for navigating a web site that includes a plurality of web pages having a particular hierarchical structure, which includes displaying an initial web page to the user that corresponds to a home web page, the initial web page including a plurality of separate interactive elements positioned at different locations on the initial web page to provide a frame of reference to the user. The method also includes, as the user moves a pointer device to various positions on the web page, changing characteristics of the initial web page such that when the pointer device is currently located at a position on the initial web page corresponding to one of the plurality of separate interactive elements, a visual characteristic of the one of the plurality of separate elements changes and the visual characteristic of another of the plurality of separate interactive elements changes. The another of the plurality of separate interactive elements is logically related to the one of the plurality of separate interactive elements.
The immersive interface may also be provided by a method for browsing a web page, which includes displaying the web page to the user, the web page including a plurality of separate interactive elements positioned at different locations on the web page. The method also includes, as the user moves a pointer device to various positions on the web page, providing feedback to the user that informs the user as to information related to one of the plurality of separate interactive elements that the user is currently positioning the pointer device on. The feedback is at least two of text feedback, visual imagery feedback, and audio feedback.
The immersive interface may also be accomplished by a computer program product that provides an interface to a user for navigating a web page, which includes first program code that displays the web page to the user, the web page including a plurality of separate interactive elements positioned at different locations on the web page. The computer program product also includes second program code that, as the user moves a pointer device to various positions on the web page, provides feedback to the user that informs the user as to information related to one of the plurality of separate interactive elements that the user is currently positioning the pointer device on. The feedback is at least two of text feedback, visual imagery feedback, and audio feedback. The first and second computer program code may include hardware components along with software.
The immersive interface may also be accomplished by a computer program product that provides an interface to a user for navigating a web site that includes a plurality of web pages having a particular hierarchical structure, which includes first program code that displays an initial web page to the user that corresponds to a home web page, the initial web page including a plurality of separate interactive elements positioned at different locations on the initial web page to provide a frame of reference to the user. The computer program product also includes second program code that, as the user moves a pointer device to various positions on the web page, changes characteristics of the initial web page such that when the pointer device is currently located at a position on the initial web page corresponding to one of the plurality of separate interactive elements, a visual characteristic of the one of the plurality of separate elements changes and the visual characteristic of another of the plurality of separate interactive elements changes. The another of the plurality of separate interactive elements is logically related to the one of the plurality of separate interactive elements. The first and second computer program code may include hardware components along with software.
The immersive interface also includes a computer program product for use in browsing a web page, which includes first program code for displaying the web page to the user, the web page including a plurality of separate interactive elements positioned at different locations on the web page. The computer program product also includes second program code that, as the user moves a pointer device to various positions on the web page, provides feedback to the user that informs the user as to information related to one of the plurality of separate interactive elements that the user is currently positioning the pointer device on. The feedback is at least two of text feedback, visual imagery feedback, and audio feedback. The first and second computer program code may include hardware components along with software.